Poultry nest



D. A. SMITH POULTRY NEST Oct. 21, 1941.

Filed Sept. 13, 1940 Patented Oct. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,260,096 POULTRY NEST Daniel A. Smith, Narcoossee, Fla. Application sepente- 13, 1940, Serial No. 356,690

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in poultry nests. It has for its general object to provide a nest unit incorporating an underlying collecting chamber for eggs, into which an "egg laid in the nest is transferred from the nest by the succeeding hen who visits the nest.

This application is a continuation-.in-part of my allowed application Ser. No. 269,226, filed April 21, 1939. 7

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a nest unit in which the output of several hens may be allowed to accumulate for a short period, say, daily, the eggs being protected from soiling as well as breakage.

The invention comprises a nest unit preferably of all metal construction, in which the nest proper, or laying surface is of open mesh material in the interest of cleanliness, and provided with an underlying dropping board which forms a cover for the collecting chamber and protects the eggs in said chamber from droppings.

Another object of the invention is to provide the nest and dropping board as a hinged unit which may be swung back to give access to the eggs in the collecting chamber for removing them.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinged removable nest which is locked to the hinge rod by the dropping board, and unlocked for removal by the withdrawal of the dropping board.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dropping board which latches itself about..the hinge rod so that it will not become inadvertently displaced.

As the egg is transferred from the nest to the collecting chamber by being pushed over the edge of the nest, means is provided to cushion the fall of the egg, comprising a pivoted teeter plate below the level of the nest, having the side upon which the egg falls normally elevated, but descending under the impact of the egg, lifting the opposite side suddenly against the air body in the collecting chamber, thus pneumaticallyicushioning the fall of the egg, by the suddenly created pressure above, and vacuum below, said vane.

As an egg in the collecting chamber may sometimes rest against the edge of the teeter plate and be kicked up by the impact of another egg dropped upon the opposite side of the teeter plate, the invention has for one of its objects to provide clearance between the dropping board and hinge rod, so that when the upwardly moving. egg strikes the dropping board, the latter will yield freely upward to the impact of the egg, preventing cracking of the egg.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferredand practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification, and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a nest unit embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure '2 is a vertical side sectional view;

Figure 3 is a plan view, part being broken away; and j g Figure 4 is a staggered cross-section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Before adverting to a description in detail of the invention, it may be stated that the nest unit is designed to be set down at the bottom of any suitable enclosure, indicated'in broken lines in Figure 2, either wood or metal, and which may be furnished by the manufacturer of the nest unit, or may be'constructed by the ultimate purchaser. The nest unit comprises a four-sided, rectangular enclosure or box I, which is preferably of all metal, so that it can be from time to time scalded or dipped into a disinfecting bath. This also holds good for the structure yet to be described, which is preferably of metal. The bottom 2 of the box I is preferably of wire mesh construction, and is preferably made with its rear end sloping upwardly, as indicated at 3.

The box I has a rod 4 extending thereacross i and secured at its opposite ends in the side walls of the box. Said rod constitutes a hinge pintle for'supporting the unit constituted by the nest and dropping board. The nest consists preferably of a frame 5, which may be of angle crosssection in the interest of strength, the top of which frame is covered by a wire mesh sheet 6 constituting the laying surface upon which the hen sits. The opposite sides I and 8 of the frame 5 constitute flanges having notches 9 adjacent their rear ends which fit over and receive the hinge rod'4. The forward end of the frame 5 is supported by lugs or brackets I0 secured to the opposite sides of the box I. The lugs I! are so positioned as to cause the nest to incline rearwardly at a small angle. The length of the nest from back to front is shorter than the similar dimension of the box I, so as to leave a space II between the rear edge of the nest and the back wall .of the box, sufficiently wide to pass an egg.

The lower margins of the flanges 1 and 8 are bent inwardly, forming ledges l2 which constitute supporting slideways for the dropping board l3. The latter is preferably a piece of sheet metal which has its sides and front turned up to form flanges l4 and 15, respectively, making the dropping board in effect a shallow receptacle. The front of the dropping board is formed with a finger-hold It by means of which it may be pulled out through a slot l! in the front wall of the box I. The middle of the slot is slightly enlarged, as shown at E8, to permit the insertion of the fingers.

The back edge I9 of the dropping board in,

ing it to drop from the rear edge of the nest. This hen lays an egg on the mesh surface of the nest and departs. The egg which was pushed over the edge of the nest lands upon the upwardly tilted side 24 of the teeter plate. The object of the teeter plate is, of course, to prevent the egg from becoming cracked in its fall. The impact of the egg against the teeter plate causes the side 24 to move downwardly, suddenly elevating the side 25 against the air body in the collecting chamber, and thus cushioning the fall of the egg against the side 24 of the teeter plate.

1 When the side 24 of the teeter plate comes to rest clines upwardly at a small angle, so that when it is pushed inwardly it cams against the lower cylindrical surface of the hinge rod 4 and springs against the sloping portion 3 of the bottom 2, the egg rolls down the teeter plate past the pivotal -axis 23, tilting the teeter plate in the opposite beneath said rod rising up at the rear side of said rod and constituting a latch so that the dropping board cannot inadvertently be displaced. The edge l9 yields under pulling pressure, permitting intentional removal of the dropping board. It will be noted that when the drop ping board is in place there is a slight space between the dropping board and the hinge rod 4, so that the dropping board can freely move upward through a rangepermitted by the extent of this space, the object of which free movement will be later described.

It will be observed that the dropping board when in position, bridges the open ends of the notches 9, and locks the nest and dropping board unit in hinged connection to the rod The unit constituted by the nest and dropping board defines the top of the egg collecting chamber and said unit may be hingedly swung in an upward direction so as to give access to the egg collecting chamber for the removal of the eggs. A handle 2|, which may be in the form of a nest egg, is secured to the hinged nest and dropping board unit to facilitate raising it.

A teetering plate, which as a whole is designated by the reference character 22, is pivotally mounted in the bottom of the egg collecting chamber on a rod 23 which extends across the box I near the bottom, and is secured at the opposite sides of said box. The pivotal axis of the teeter plate is substantially beneath the rear edge of the nest and the teeter plate consists of two sides 24 and 25 which extend substantially the entire width of the box I. The teeter plate is normally slightly overbalanced, so that its forward edge 26 rests against the bottom 2 of the box I, while its rear side 24 is elevated above the sloping portion 3 of said bottom. When the side 24 of the teeter plate is pressed down by the weight of an egg, it is still in an inclined position so as to cause the egg to roll down into the collecting chamber. The area of the side 25 of the teeter plate is quite extensive, so that when the side 25 suddenly tilts upward its upward motion will be resisted by the air body in the collecting chamber against which it impinges.

The operation of the nest will now be described. A hen lays an egg on the slightly inclined surface of the mesh fabric 6. Due to the small inclination of this surface and the impediment imposed by the corrugations formed by the wires of the meshes, the egg will not of itself rollfrom the nest, but will remain as an inducement for another hen to come in and lay an egg. When the next hen comes in, she follows the nature of poultry in general, and moves the first laid egg around with her bill, finally shifting it to the rear edge of the nest and causdirection so that the edge 26 of the side 25 rests against the bottom 2, the egg rolling off of the teeter plate into the collecting chamber. The teeter plate will remain in the position shown in Figure 2 until it is tilted by the impact of another falling egg. The vertical space between the'teeter plate and the nest and dropping board unit is preferably just slightly more than enough to permit the egg to pass into the collecting chamber. Sometimes an egg rests upon the bottom 2 of the collectingchamber against the edge 26 of the teeter plate and slightly overhanging said teeter plate, so that when the next egg strikes the opposite side of the teeter plate the egg which lies against the edge 26 will be thrown upward against the lower surface of the dropping board [4. Inasmuch as the dropping board is free to move through the space Zl' between the dropping board and hinge rod 6, the dropping board will be free to lift under the impact of the egg,v dampening the blow and preventing the egg from becoming cracked or broken.

When it is desired to remove the eggs from the collecting chamber, the nest and dropping board unit is swung upwardly about the rod l and permitted to rest against the back wall of whatever superstructure is associated with the nest unit. After removal of the eggs, it is restored to the position shown in Figure 2. When it is desired to remove the dropping board for the purpose of cleaning the same, it can be drawn out by taking hold of the finger-hold It, the latching edge ['9 yielding to a slight pull on the finger-hold. For removing the nest proper, it is necessary only to first remove the dropping board sufficiently to free the open ends of the notches 9 from the closure provided by the edge IQ of the dropping board, whereupon the nest and dropping board may be lifted bodily from the hinge rod 4 and removed.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific details of construction and arrangement of parts as described and illustrated, are merely by way of example and not to be construed as restrictingthe invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. Poultry nest unit comprising a box constituting an egg colecting chamber, a nest hingedly mounted in said box, on a horizontal axis remote from the front of said box, and supported slightly inclined downwardly to the rear, said hinged nest comprising a substantially flat open mesh laying surface and carrying a forwardly slidable removable dropping board beneath said laying surface and spaced therefrom, said dropping board forming a protective lid for said collecting chamber, said nest and dropping board being swingable upwardly to give access to said collecting chamber, the rear edge of said laying surface terminating at a distance from the rear wall of said box forming an egg passage to said collecting chamber, and forwardly sloping means in said collecting chamber beneath said egg passage to guide an egg dropped from said nest through said passage upon said means, forwardly into said collecting chamber.

2. Poultry nest unit comprising a box constituting an egg laying chamber, a horizontal rod extending across said box remote from the front and supported by the opposite sides thereof, a nest hingedly mounted in saidbox upon said rod and supported slightly inclined downwardly toward the rear, said nest comprising a frame having downwardly opening notches embracing said rod, and having a substantially flat open mesh laying surface upon said frame, said frame carrying a forwardly slidably removable dropping board beneath said laying surface and spaced therefrom, said dropping board forming a protective lid for said collecting chamber, said hinged nest and dropping board being swingable upwardly to give access to said collecting chamber, the rear edge of said laying surface terminating at a distance from the rear wall of said chamber, and forwardly sloping means in said collecting chamber beneath said egg passage to guide an egg dropped from said nest through said passage upon said means, forwardly into said collecting chamber.

3. Poultry nest unit as claimed in claim 2, said dropping board having its rear edge extending beneath said rod, bridging the open ends of said notches, locking said nest to said rod.

4. Poultry nest unit as claimed in claim 2, said dropping board having a slightly upwardly inclined springy rear edge portion, camming downwardly against the lower convex surface of said rod under pushing pressure, and springing up behind, said rod to latch said dropping board in place.

5. Poultry nest unit as claimed in claim 2, said dropping board having a slightly upwardly directed springy rear edge portion camming' downwardly against the lower convex surface of said rod under pushing pressure, and springing up behind said rod to latch said dropping board in place, there being a small clearance between said dropping board and rod when said dropping board is in latched position, permitting said dropping board to freely rise through the range afforded by said clearance when struck by an egg from beneath.

6. Poultry nest unit comprising a box constituting an egg collecting chamber, a nest r hingedly mounted in said box on a horizontal axis remote from the front of said box, and supported slightly inclined downwardly toward the rear, said hinged nest comprising a substantially fiat open mesh laying surface, and carrying a forwardly slidable removable dropping board beneath said laying surface and spaced therefrom, said dropping board forming a protective lid for said collecting chamber, said nest and dropping board being swingable upwardly to give access to said collecting chamber, the rear edge of said laying surface terminating at a distance from the rear wall of said box defining an egg passage to said collecting chamber, a teeter plate pivoted adjacent the bottom of said box below the rear of said nest having vanes extending oppositely from its pivotal axis, one being an egg receiving vane positioned beneath said egg passage, the other being an egg delivering vane located beneath the rear of said nest, the egg delivering vane being normally slightly heavier than the egg receiving vane, maintaining the latter in normal elevated position, the egg receiving vane dropping suddenly under the impact of an egg, lifting the egg delivering vane against air pressure, cushioning the fall of said egg.

7. Poultry nest unit as claimed in claim 6, said egg receiving vane, in all positions, sloping toward said collecting chamber.

DANIEL A. SMITH. 

